US Marines Waiting To Hear Leon Panetta Speak In Afghanistan Were Told To Get Rid Of Their Weapons

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta urgently flew to
Afghanistan to argue for the U.S. war strategy at a time of
rising uncertainty, reports the military newspaper Stars and Stripes.

Following Sunday's massacre of Afghan civilians by an American
soldier in Kandahar province — plus the Koran burnings last month
— relations between the U.S. and Afghanistan have become strained
with fresh calls for Americans to withdraw.

The Washington Post reports that Members of Afghanistan's
Senate refused to carry on with business as usual inside
parliament and instead stood in silent protest of the killings.

Panetta's two-day trip has had a few awkward moments.

At a town hall meeting at Camp Leatherneck, 200 people including
Marines gathered to hear Panetta speak. An uncomfortable moment
arose when the Marines were asked to get up and leave the tent to
store their M-16s, M-4 automatic rifles and 9-mm pistols outside.
And then return empty handed.

“Somebody got itchy, that’s all I’ve got to say. Somebody got
itchy; we just adjust," said Sgt. Maj. Brandon Hall to reporters,
according to the New York Times.

The order had come from U.S. officials' wish to make a positive
impression on Afghan partners attending the town hall discussion.
Afghans culturally don't bring weapons to meetings.

“I wanted the Marines to look just like our Afghan partners,”
Maj. Gen. Gurganus, the top commander in Helmand province, said.
Unfortunately, the order didn't reach the Marines in time.

Panetta's trip so far has seen him repeatedly hammer home
the imperative of a stable Afghanistan for U.S. security, wrote
Chris Carroll of the Stars and Stripes. The Defense Secretary's
initial landing at Camp Bastion, the British air
field adjoining Camp Leatherneck in Helmand province,
sparked a question of security itself.

Base personnel chased the burning man across the tarmac and
extinguished the blaze and treated him for burn injuries after he
jumped onto an airport truck. Pentagon press secretary George
Little told reporters that there are no details about who the
driver is and what the motive for his joy ride was. They do know
that the driver carjacked the truck from an ISAF
servicemember.